Irretitus
by JonHenryIrons
Summary: Through a series of events, Clark and Chloe each find themselves trapped with no means of escape. Chlark. Please read and respond positive critiques only, please
1. Chapter 1

As he became aware of his consciousness, he began to remember the most basic of things. After a while, the blackness turned to a gray haze, and he realized that he knew the words "black" and "gray". It felt as though he were floating free, yet he couldn't look around himself.

After a while, although time didn't really seem to be a constant, he decided to remember. Instantly, images began to flood his mind.

Faces, objects, words, and places, all became a disjointed jumble before him, and as each became a memory, he began to remember himself.

Then he stumbled upon a fragment of a memory, and he realized it was the memory of how he'd come to be in the gray void.

As the memory washed over him, one word echoed through his being. Every cell in his body began to awaken and vibrate with it. It became his mantra.

One word. A single name.

Chloe.

As soon as she was capable of coherent thought, she realized she was in pain. A quick inventory told her she was suffering from a sore shoulder, a scraped knee, a throbbing headache, and aching fingers.

Attempting to console her aching head, she found her hands were bound to something solid behind her back.

She was so light-headed that it took several moments for her to realize she was actually laying on her back, and the object which was _**beneath**_ her, was a table.

A thought floated through her mind; _'Let's hear it for journalistic observational skills.'_

A pause then, as her cobwebbed brain processed the thought and where it had come from.

Then, a flood of memories.

Her life. Her career. Her family, and friends.

Oh. God.

Clark.

**Forty-Eight Hours Earlier**

Chloe Sullivan, ace reporter for the Daily Planet, was sitting in "the basement", typing up a riveting piece of journalism on Metropolis' dog-leash by-laws.

She was, therefore, grateful for the respite when her cellphone began to play a cheerfully generic tune.

"Hey Chloe." Pete Ross's voice filtered through the cell-phone's receiver, automatically taking Chloe back to her days at Smallville High. She grinned.

"Hey Pete. How's everyone's favorite elastic guy?" Pete chuckled softly.

"No elastic guy here, Chlo. Just regular old Pete." Chloe detected a bit of wistfullness in her friend's voice, but set aside her journalist's instincts for some friendly conversation.

"Far be it to question your motives, but we hardly hear from you anymore, Pete. Is everything okay?"

"Actually, I'm not sure. You remember how it is, Chloe. Normal town by day, but after dark is when the weird stuff begins to happen." Chloe sat a little straighter as Pete's tone became a bit more stressed than his usual care-free demeanor.

"Define _creepy_." Chloe said, lowering her voice slightly.

"Yeah, Chloe. Miss you too. Say hi to _**Clark**_ for me. Bye." Pete hung up abruptly, leaving Chloe with a dozen questions and no answers. Hanging up her cell phone, she immediately called up number one on her speed-dial, and called Clark.


	2. Chapter 2

Hanging up the phone from Chloe's call, Clark sat back on the couch in his loft, and sighed.

Ever since Lana had awoken from her coma and dropped off the map, Clark had more or less isolated himself on the farm. Despite Chloe, Jimmy, and Kara's brief attempts, and Lois's goading, Clark just hadn't felt like leaving. He had, instead, taken to doing what needed to be done around the farm... at a normal person's speed.

Chloe's call had caught him in the middle of mowing, and Clark had picked up the phone in the house by the second ring. Promising to come to the Daily Planet had been Clark's only escape from the phone call, and even then Chloe had persisted.

Pete Ross, Clark's best male friend, had been told Clark's secret after accidentally stumbling across the spaceship that had brought Clark to Earth as a young boy. That had caused a short-lived rift between the two friends, but had eventually strengthened an already strong bond.

Pete had moved before his senior year at Smallville High, and due to both men having busy lives, for different reasons, they hadn't remained in touch as much as either would have liked.

As Clark went through the motions of showering and changing his clothes, his mind began to race with all the possibilities behind Pete's cryptic phonecall.

Half an hour later, Clark super-sped into Chloe's cubicle and as he slowed himself to a relative crawl, he watched Chloe's still form jump to life.

"Clark! Thank God you're here." Chloe's face was pale and drawn. Clark peered past her at the monitor of her computer. On the screen was a mock-up of the newspaper's front page. The bold headline screamed "Queen Industries Private Jet Crashes" with "No survivors, say Search and Rescue" below in a slightly smaller font. Clark's eyes widened as he leaned closer to the screen and examined the accompanying picture. A blue section of water, interspersed with several different sizes of S&R ships.

"Chloe, when did this happen?" Clark's eyebrows furrowed with concern. Chloe didn't reply until Clark said her name again.

"Uhh... this just broke. It's all over CNN and all the other news networks. This," she gestured to the screen in front of her, "is tomorrow's front page."

"Chloe, you talk to Oliver all the time. Where was he going?" Clark asked, resolving to find his friend. Then Chloe dropped a bombshell.

"It wasn't just him, Clark. I talked to Oliver last night. They were all on that plane. Oliver's whole Justice group." Chloe looked deep into Clark's eyes so he would understand how serious she was. Clark's eyes widened.

"So... Oliver, and A.C., and..." Clark's voice gave out, his anger turning to sorrow. Chloe nodded, speaking softly.

"Bart was on the plane with him, Clark. They were heading to New Zealand, to check out a possible 33.1 lab. They..."Chloe choked back a few sobs until Clark stepped forward and embraced her tightly. The two of them held each other, sharing their grief over the news that some of their closest friends may have been lost to them. The sound of someone clearing their throat made them pull away.

"Lois." Clark's mind couldn't process Lois's presence as quickly as usual, so after saying her name, he hesitated. Naturally, Lois filled in the gap.

"Wow Clark. Took you two long enough." Lois had a natural ability to exude sarcasm and a pouting demeanor at the same time, which worked in her favor more often than not. This wasn't one of those times.

"Not now, Lois." Chloe replied, as Clark's face turned a shade of crimson. Chloe grabbed Lois's elbow and dragged her into the copy room. Clark, following, shut the door behind them.

"What, are you two going to tell me when the wedding is?" Lois's snide remark was enhanced by a slight sneer.

"Lois..." Chloe and Clark looked at each other for moral support. They knew how much Lois still cared for Oliver, even though they'd broken up.

"Oliver's missing." Clark told her, gently.

"No, he's just doing his Robin Hood impression somewhere." For a moment, several emotions vied for dominance on each of their faces. Chloe's was a mix of confusions and curiosity, while Clark's and Lois's faces both displayed concern; Lois for letting Oliver's secret out, and Clark for wondering how many other secrets Lois might be aware of. A moment passed in silence, and then Clark and Lois mirrored each other with "You already know??"


End file.
